Synethesia
by magnolia-bunny
Summary: Ghosts are figments trapped in the places of their deaths, yet Kagome has been thrust into a palace that fell to ruin long before she died. In order to move on, she must help a young Sesshoumaru come to terms with the death of his father. People are not always what you expect them to be, and words alone have power that the priestess never truly understood.


**Synethesia** Ghosts are figments trapped in the places of their deaths, yet Kagome has been thrust into a palace that fell to ruin long before she died. In order to move on, she must help a young Sesshoumaru come to terms with the death of his father. People are not always what you expect them to be, and words alone have power that the priestess never truly understood.

_Prompt: The Spicy Challenge: Anise - Keeping anise by the bed at night would help rid the sleeper of bad dreams. _

Sesshoumaru paced down the halls of his mother's palace. His claws clicked against the wooden floors, leaving an audible trail between his room and the quiet kitchen. The room was dark when he entered; the fire had burned down days ago, when the Western Lady had dismissed the servants and holed herself up alone in the Eastern wing. She sat as beautiful and as still as a statue, her back bent in an uncharacteristic show of despair.

For a brief moment, Sesshoumaru considered going back to his room. The Western Lady had never appreciated shows of weakness, and being a witness to her mourning would normally have resulted in a scolding. He lingered at the door, deliberating what course of action he should take. To intrude on this moment was wrong, but to flee would make him seem weak, incapable of handling a situation that was impossible to alter.

Cups of cold, untouched tea sat on the table before his mother. Her lip colour had dyed the first few mugs pink around the edges, ghostly imprints of her failed attempt to comfort herself. Sitting in this mess would only make her feel worse, he concluded. As he reached for the first mug, she laughed. It was a hollow, twisted sound, coming from a broken creature.

"Leave it," she commanded.

He allowed his hand to fall away. Words of comfort swelled up to his tongue, but he clamped them down. Instead, he settled on a harsh truth.

"Father is not coming back."

She flinched away from him, turning her face towards the open door to look at the dark sky.

"Perhaps..."

"He is either dead, or he is with his new family." His voice faltered whenever he spoke of his father's mistress.

"He would not abandon his duties," the woman argued. _Or us_, was what he knew she wanted to add.

"He is gone."

The world outside, which been silent when he entered the room, burst into a sudden cacophony of noise. An owl outside screamed in the distance, the cicadas buzzed amongst themselves, and the wind buckled against the palace wall, rushing into the kitchen where it stirred his mother from her place of grief.

The lady refused to meet his eyes when she fumbled, so much unlike herself, with the cup she had been clutching. Crushed between her fingers, the pieces fell, jangling, to the floor, accompanied by drops of dark blood.

"Come to bed, mother," the boy begged. "I will fetch some anise for your nightmares."

Her attention was focused entirely outside. She did not look at him as she moved gracelessly toward the open door, her body breaking and twisting into its true form and taking flight out the open courtyard into the moonless sky. Her howl ripped through him, still clutching one of her cups in his hands.

For the first time in his life, Sesshoumaru was completely alone. It would not be the last.

_Author's Note: Thank-you so much for choosing to read the first chapter of this new fic. It's been a long time since I was last able to take comfort in words, and being able to celebrate one of my favourite pairings through fanfiction is wonderful. I am writing this fic for the "Spicy" challenge, so there should be roughly twenty chapters in total. If you have any constructive feedback, please do not hesitate to share it! I appreciate every review that I receive. _

_Please note that I am (obviously) not the original creator of the Inuyasha series. I merely love the characters. _


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